Competitive Smash Bros gamers, we’ve all been there.  In the middle of a heated Brawl tournament, waiting our turn for the next match, prepping ourselves for what lies ahead. We get ready and psych ourselves up. I’ve got this. I can do this. Nobody can take me down, I’ve worked so hard for this and I’ve got it. But then, as you’re called up, you realize something. Your opponent looks like they haven’t slept in days, possibly weeks. Their hands grip the controller to the point their knuckles are white and you think the controller might break in their hands. Are they nervous? Frightened? But you both proceed to the character selection.  While you’re off picking Link because you’ve mastered nearly everything there is to know about him, your opponent selects… Him. The masked bane of your existence, who is nothing like a Kirby clone. Yes, your opponent picks Meta Knight. No matter how hard you try or what difficulty you settle in on, you can never beat Meta Knight. The match begins. Within five minutes, your beloved Hero of Hyrule is defeated in the background and Meta Knight disappears as the guitar version of Kirby’s victory music plays, and you’re eliminated. But something under your opponent’s breath stops you. “Check the tier next time, kid.”  Tiers? Why are those so important?

The Smash Bros tier list was created when the original game was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1999 and has had three successors since that time, the most recent being a dual platform for the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U.  Throughout the course of these games, competitive gamers have taken to making tier lists, as is done with most fighting games. But what bearing to these tiers have on how you play the game?  Well, tiers are made for the purpose of showing which characters are the most powerful or capable of combination attacks, generally being the most “useful” in a match.  As a competitive gamer myself, I’ll admit, I used to base my strategies around tiers.  Though not always the top, I would specially select the top tier characters, such as Shiek in Melee, and attempt to get used to them as my main. But, with the release of SSB4 for the 3DS and Wii U, I’ve found myself readjusting and finding out life without a clear tier, as I call it.
Since the tier list for Smash 4 is still in the works, I’ve found myself testing every character just to see how they work for me, how well I can play them, and I found that I work best with who I enjoy playing as. I main two characters in total. Shulk and the Wii Fit Trainer.  From the in-progress tiers I’ve seen so far, that means I have a sharp contrast in ranking. While Shulk is high on the list for his ability to switch up style with the Monado Arts, Wii Fit Trainer doesn’t have much going for her. She’s, to put it frankly, a basic fighter with a few 1% healing moves that take more time to set up than knock down. Why is there such a contrast if I play both equally well competitively? But the main concern is countering. Counters have been the bane of competitive players since the dawn of the move. If people don’t believe they stand a chance, they fall back on this special move. Taking the attacks and dealing them back as hard as they can. If this makes a character high-tier, it just means people aren’t playing hard enough with the other moves. (Yes, I’m looking at you people who do this as Shulk, Little Mac, Lucina, Marth, Greninja, Lucario, Palutena, and Ike. Learn other combos!)  I pride myself on one factor and one alone if I lose while playing as Shulk. I never use counter. I learn to deal with Monado Arts, setbacks, perks, and the difficulty of not back-slashing off the edge of the map.

The way I see it, tiers are only made as a map for the developers. To show them where the power of the characters lay. What changes they can make, how to shoot down an overpowered character, who needs a bit more strength to them, general improvements with the help of the fans. But with the praise and excitement that all tiers get, everyone is eager to latch onto the most powerful, the top of the top, the best you can get. If Smash is a game meant for having fun, playing with friends, why is it so sought after by people to play simply as one character, one that people deem the most powerful?  Those who see the power seek to take it, while those who polish their old favorites are sometimes criticized for not going, as ironic as it sounds with the online mode in the new Smash game, for glory. So, the next time in a tournament, think to yourself. Do they play this character because they think it’s fun? Or because they want to win? Why do they use that move, of all things? The range of attack, the power it deals? Why are tiers important?